Lending a Little Courage
by Morning Lilies
Summary: The future. It is terrifying and uncertain and full of possibility, if only you can bring yourself to step forward. George and Ginny help each other take that step as only brothers and sisters can.


**A/N: This is for My Dear Professor McGonagall's Sibling Rivalry contest. I got George and Ginny :) My first attempt at Weasley siblings without Ron, so we'll see how I did! :D**

Ginny Weasley was sprawled on the grass of the Burrow's garden, staring up at a brilliant blue sky, and worrying the corner of an envelope between her fingers. July heat settled around her like a fog, and frogs croaked lazily in the muddy pond. She wished that there were clouds. An endless blue sky was not nearly as distracting as one painted with drifting swirls and puffs.

When she could stare vacantly into the fathomless heights no longer, Ginny rolled over onto her stomach and stared at the yellowed parchment envelope she had not set down, nor opened since it had arrived that morning. The scarlet, double 'H' insignia of the Holleyhead Harpies was emblazoned in the upper corner, and her own name was printed neatly in the middle. It was the sight she had dreamed about since she was small, the image that had bobbed constantly in the back of her head for weeks now as she waited. Yet now that it was here, all she could do was stare.

"This is stupid," Ginny muttered to herself, shaking her head.

She stuck one finger beneath the sealed flap, but somehow could not do anything else. She teetered on the verge of ripping open the frustratingly daunting envelope, her heart bounding to her mouth. Then, with one quick swipe, she prized up the flap.

"Ouch!"

Ginny yelped as the parchment sliced open her finger, and tossed the envelope aside.

"Stupid – bloody – thing," she muttered, sucking her bleeding finger.

"And round one goes to the envelope."

Ginny about jumped out of her skin at George's voice. She whirled around, squinting up in the direction it had come from and only then spotted her brother stretched out on the roof of the shed, watching her bemusedly.

"Merlin, George. Stop my heart, why don't you? How long have you been up there?"

"Long enough to be disappointed by your first attack on that thing. After all the waiting and anticipation, it was a rather uninspiring outcome, Sis."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and he snickered.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she asked.

"See, that's the beauty of working for yourself. You can give yourself time off whenever you feel like it."

It had been a month since Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had re-opened its doors after more than a year. George had worked extremely hard in the run-up to the grand opening, losing himself in product lists and display setups and brainstorming new ideas, but now that the joke shop was packed with people again, he had hardly stuck his head in the door.

George slid to the edge of the roof and swung himself down beside her, snatching the envelope up.  
"What is this thing anyway?"

"From the Harpies," Ginny explained, propping herself up on her elbows. "About my tryouts."

"You mean this envelope contains whether or not you made it onto a national Quidditch team?" George demanded. "What the bloody hell are you waiting for!"

He made to tear it open himself, but Ginny swiped it away.

"Not the _real _team. Just the reserves," she reminded him. "And this is possibly one of the most important moments of my life, George! You can't just open it just like that."

"Sure you can! Open, read, celebrate. It's easy."

He imitated her pose, leaning back on his elbows, and looked over at her expectantly.

"And what if I _didn't _make it?" Ginny asked, staring down at the source of all her anxiety for the day.

"Why, Ginevra Molly Weasley," George said in shocked tones. "Is that nervousness I hear in your voice?"

"Oh, be quiet," Ginny huffed, ignoring George's smirk.

"I never would have believed it," he went on, shaking his head. "The girl who stood at the front of an army, who can look right into the furious eyes of our mother and lie blatantly, who can send _The Chosen One_ running for cover… is afraid of a little bit of folded parchment."

"Hey, I've got good reason," Ginny said, holding up her cut finger. "It bites."

George laughed and flopped back on the grass.

"Come on, Ginny. You're not the only one who's been dying to know if you made the national team or not. If you don't hurry up, you'll have a whole houseful of people wrestling that envelope out of your hands."

"I'm just waiting until Harry can be standing next to me to find out," Ginny said, clutching the envelope to her chest.

George snorted. "Nice try. But since when have you waited around for Harry?"

"Only half my life," Ginny reminded him, rolling her eyes.

George waved a hand. "I mean since you two got back together. You're not putting off finding out 'cause of some romantic notion. You don't want to know." He looked at her shrewdly. "Why don't you want to know?"

Ginny bit her lip. Then she burst out, "Because what am I supposed to do if I don't make it? It's not like I've got a whole other bunch of careers lined up! My entire future is in this stupid, biting envelope!"

George leaned over to inspect said biting envelope. "You got Harry and a bunch of little ankle-biters crammed in there?"

"How am I supposed to get married and have a family if I don't even have a job?" Ginny asked, ignoring the blaring warning sirens in her brain that she was jumping way ahead of herself there. "If I don't go out and do something for myself, how am I supposed to do anything for anyone else?"

George was probably the only one of Ginny's brothers who could take this onslaught of her emotion without even flinching. Instead he rolled over so he could look down at her face.

"And what does any of that have to do with whether you get on the team or not? You will, of course, but if you didn't, it wouldn't mean you have to waist away sitting in this garden for the rest of your life."

"It's just…" Ginny sighed and sat up. "I mean, I didn't even really _think _about playing professionally until a few months ago when Jones recruited me. But since then, it's like I can't even think of something _else _I could do. I mean, Quidditch is the only thing I'm really good at."

George rolled his eyes, but Ginny hurried on.

"I mean, I got okay marks and I can cast a damn good bat-bogey hex and I could probably find something to occupy my time with, but Quidditch is the only thing I'm really _really _good at. I just… this is really important. And if I didn't make it… I just want a little longer to hope that I did. Does that make sense?"

George nodded soberly. A second later though, he had plucked the envelope out of his sister's unsuspecting hands.

"Lucky for you, you've got a brother who's not afraid of what's inside this," he told her, and, ignoring Ginny's noise of protest, George finally ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter that was folded inside. He looked up at her before he unfolded it. "Look, though. If for some crazy reason you didn't make the team, you've always got a place at the joke shop if you want it. We – I – could always use some extra help, and if the stories I hear are true, you'd be brilliant at it."

Ginny smiled in spite of herself. "Thanks Georgie."

George shrugged, and turned his attention back to the letter. He flipped it open and Ginny watched his eyes scan the print with increasing nerves, trying to read the tiniest twitches in his expression. At last, George set the parchment down, making a fuss about folding it up just so and slipping it back in its envelope.

Then he looked up at Ginny.

"So?" she demanded, twisting her fingers together.

"I'm sorry, Sis," George said somberly, and Ginny felt her heart drop like a stone. "I can't make you a partner in the joke shop, now. You'll be too busy practicing as the Harpies' reserve Chaser."

Ginny shrieked.

"George Weasley! That was not a nice trick to play!" she slapped him lightly on the arm. But then the reality of his words seemed to sink in and she looked at her brother with wide eyes. "Really? I'm really a reserve?"

George nodded, a grin breaking out across his face. "See? What'd I tell you? You had nothing to be worried about."

Ginny's heart seemed to rocket back up again, its momentum actually launching her forward at her brother. She flung her arms around George's neck, beaming so hard she thought her face might split.

"I'm a reserve for the Harpies! Can you believe it, George? I'm really going to practice with them!"

"Easy, Gin. You're going to make me go deaf. I've only got one ear, you know."

"Just _wait _'til I tell Harry! And Ron and Hermione! And Charlie will flip!" Ginny sat back and looked at George excitedly.

"My baby sister, a harpy," George said, pretending to wipe away a tear. "I've never been so proud."

Ginny elbowed him in the stomach, still grinning. "You better be telling the truth."

"Well, it's not like you're _that _special," George teased her. "I mean, Charlie could have played for England if he'd wanted to. And if we'd finished school, I bet me and Fred could have made a national team. Then there's your boyfriend, youngest seeker in a century. And we _can't _forget about ickle Ronniekins. I'm sure the Cannons would take even him."

"Oh, shut up," Ginny said, rolling her eyes, but laughing.

"I think we ought to celebrate," George went on, flopping backwards on the grass once more. "What d'you say to visiting Ab in the Hog's Head? Plenty of Firewhiskey to go around."

"Tempting as that sounds, what do you suppose your customers would think if you came back to the shop drunk?" Ginny pointed out.

"Who says I have to go back at all today?" George countered. "Verity and that lot are there. The shop practically runs itself."

"George," Ginny said softly. "Why don't you go into the shop anymore?"

"I do," George protested, rolling over and burying his face in his arms.

"Hardly," Ginny snorted.

She looked down at her brother and her expression softened. If none of them could bare even opening the door to what had once been the twins' bedroom, she supposed facing the place where they had once been building their dream together every day must be much harder on George than he had let on.

"Hey Georgie," she said, poking him in the back. "You know, I could still use a part time job if you've got one of those lying around. Reserves don't get paid much unless they play in a game, and I've got to buy all new equipment and stuff…"

George turned his head to glance at her out of one eye.

"You really want to spend your spare time bagging things up in a noisy joke shop?"

"Sure. On one condition, though. We get started now. I need all the hours I can get before practice starts."

George sat up slowly, eyeing Ginny cautiously. She stood up and held out a hand to pull him to his feet.

George had lent her the courage to face her future. She could lend a little back to help him face his past.

A/N: ? :)


End file.
